Five MCU Characters Who Should Get a Series on Disney’s Streaming Service

If the new report is true, and Disney is actively looking to give television shows to established Marvel Cinematic Universe characters on its upcoming streaming service, we have some ideas. Okay, we have lots of ideas.

Our suggestions in this arena assume that the events of Infinity War will probably be undone in Avengers 4 somehow, and so characters who are technically “dead” at the moment could have a second chance at landing one of these sweet TV deals. Since the rumor claims Marvel wants to give existing MCU characters their own shows, this list focuses solely on Marvel heroes who’ve already shown up onscreen in a Marvel movie — otherwise one of our votes would have gone to somebody like Chameleon. Chameleon is so cool. Seriously, make a show about Chameleon.

Those sorts of ideas will have to wait for another time. For now it’s about old characters in new shows. Like these five can’t-miss potential series for Disney’s new streaming service. We would watch any and all of these. We might even sign up for a new monthly streaming service for them.

1. The Hulk

Marvel

Decades before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a gleam in Kevin Feige’s eye, the Hulk was the original Marvel television hero. His series premiered in 1978 and ran for the next five seasons on CBS. The Incredible Hulk was essentially the superhero version of The Fugitive: Innocent man goes on the run, helping people he encounters along the way towards redemption. Once or twice an episode, David Banner (Bill Bixby) would hulk out and transform into Lou Ferrigno, who would wreak havoc in green body paint. The idea is tailor-made for a reboot, particularly if Mark Ruffalo could recruit a couple of his friends from the indie film world to help him use Marvel’s big canvas (and big pockets) to tell a story about life in modern America as seen through the eyes of this character.

2. Agent Carter

Marvel / ABC

The original Agent Carter was one of the few MCU TV series I actually watched all the way through until it was canceled following its second season. The Disney streaming service would be the perfect place for a revival. As for a specific setting or subject: The 1950s were a very interesting period in the Marvel Comics Universe, filled with astonishing tales about monsters and aliens. So what about bringing Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) into that era, and giving her show a little bit of an X-Files bent, investigating these weird cases? That character was so great and so versatile, there are a lot of places she could go next.

3. Shuri

Marvel

Black Panther had a huge cast of fascinating supporting characters, so there are a bunch of ways you could go with a Wakanda spinoff. How about something about Winston Duke’s M’Baku and his Jabari tribe? Or a buddy adventure starring Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia and Danai Gurira’s Okoye? Those would both be great, but we vote for a series spotlighting the scene-stealing Letitia Wright as Black Panther’s brilliant and brave sister Shuri. In the comics, Shuri becomes Black Panther herself at one point, after T’Challa is injured in battle. That could be the perfect subject for her own limited series. Bonus points if you can lure Martin Freeman to return as Everett Ross and he and Wright can continue their hilarious banter from the Panther film.

4. The Winter Soldier

Marvel

Disney’s streaming service will probably be geared more towards families and children — this is a Disney product, after all. But if they want to broaden their audience a little bit and get some older viewers’ attention, they could turn Captain America’s other partner, the weary Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), into the hero of a bleak espionage thriller in the style of John Wick or Atomic Blonde. Personally I would get Ed Brubaker — who co-created the Winter Soldier version of Bucky Barnes and has written for shows like Westworld — give him whatever he wants and total creative freedom to make this as he sees fit.

5. Howard the Duck

Given how badly his first movie bombed, I would guess we have a better shot at seeing a movie based on the trucking superhero U.S. 1 than another Howard the Duck film. But Howard is a great character — so why not a TV series instead? A smaller television budget would make the effects a little trickier, but it would also free the show up creatively to embrace the comic’s surreal roots and edgy comedy. The insanity of the actual world of 2018 would be the ideal place for a dude like Howard to explore and brutally mock.